Fat mass is an important determinant of bone density, but the mechanism of this relationship is uncertain. Leptin, as a circulating peptide of adipocyte origin, is a potential contributor to this relationship. Recently it was shown that intracerebroventricular administration of leptin is associated with bone loss, suggesting that obesity should be associated with low bone mass, the opposite of what is actually found. Since leptin originates in the periphery, an examination of its direct effects on bone is necessary to address this major discrepancy.Leptin (>10 11 M) increased proliferation of isolated fetal rat osteoblasts comparably with IGF-I, and these cells expressed the signalling form of the leptin receptor. In mouse bone marrow cultures, leptin (d10 11 M) inhibited osteoclastogenesis, but it had no effect on bone resorption in two assays of mature osteoclasts. Systemic administration of leptin to adult male mice (20 injections of 43 µg/day over 4 weeks) reduced bone fragility (increased work to fracture by 27% and displacement to fracture by 21%, P<0·001). Changes in tibial histomorphometry were not statistically significant apart from an increase in growth plate thickness in animals receiving leptin. Leptin stimulated proliferation of isolated chondrocytes, and these cells also expressed the signalling form of the leptin receptor.It is concluded that the direct bone effects of leptin tend to reduce bone fragility and could contribute to the high bone mass and low fracture rates of obesity. When administered systemically, the direct actions of leptin outweigh its centrally mediated effects on bone, the latter possibly being mediated by leptin's regulation of insulin sensitivity.

Peptides purified by HPLC are often in the form of a trifluoroacetate (TFA) salt, because trifluoroacetic acid is used as a solvent in reversed-phase HPLC separation. However, the potential effects of this contaminant in culture systems have not been addressed previously. TFA (10(-8) to 10(-7) M) reduced cell numbers and thymidine incorporation into fetal rat osteoblast cultures after 24 h. Similar effects were found in cultures of articular chondrocytes and neonatal mouse calvariae, indicating that the effect is not specific to one cell type or to one species of origin. When the activities of the TFA and hydrochloride salts of amylin, amylin-(1-8), and calcitonin were compared in osteoblasts, cell proliferation was consistently less with the TFA salts of these peptides, resulting in failure to detect a proliferative effect or wrongly attributing an antiproliferative effect. This finding is likely to be relevant to all studies of purified peptides in concentrations above 10(-9) M in whatever cell or tissue type. Such peptides should be converted to a hydrochloride or biologically equivalent salt before assessment of their biological effects is undertaken.

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and amylin are homologous 37-amino-acid peptides which have been demonstrated to have anabolic effects on bone. It is not clear whether these effects are mediated by a common receptor, nor is it known which ligand is the more potent. These questions are addressed in the present study using cultures of fetal rat osteoblasts. CGRP increased cell number when present in a concentration ≥10

This study assesses the structure-activity relationships of the actions of amylin on bone. In fetal rat osteoblasts, only intact amylin and amylin-(1—8) stimulated cell proliferation (half-maximal concentrations 2.0 × 10−11 and 2.4 × 10−10 M, respectively). Amylin-(8—37), COOH terminally deamidated amylin, reduced amylin, and reduced amylin-(1—8) (reduction results in cleavage of the disulfide bond) were without agonist effect but acted as antagonists to the effects of both amylin and amylin-(1—8). Calcitonin gene-related peptide-(8—37) also antagonized the effects of amylin and amylin-(1—8) on osteoblasts but was substantially less potent in this regard than amylin-(8—37). In contrast, inhibition of bone resorption in neonatal mouse calvariae only occurred with the intact amylin molecule and was not antagonized by any of these peptides. The rate of catabolism of the peptides in calvarial cultures was not accelerated in comparison with that of intact amylin. This dissociation of the actions of amylin suggests that it acts through two separate receptors, one on the osteoclast (possibly the calcitonin receptor) and a second on the osteoblast.

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